Monday, August 29, 2011

It's Monday and I was making my to the shop I could see black smoke rising above the downtown. (crap!) It didn't take long for me to see that it was down the hill and on the other side of King Street. As small crowd was forming just outside the front door and in front of Roses Coffee shop. It was the restaurant across the corner just past the lights on Scugog. The sounds of the sirens and the smell of the smoke brought back some pretty tough memories.

I decided that the smoke was not a good thing to be breathing and headed inside. Today was 'floor' day and Rich was coming in about 1 pm to clean and polish the tile floor.

I started moving yarn and fixtures into the back room to clear the floor so that Rich could work. As the street was blocked off he had to maneuver everything through the back door; which made finding space for everything even more challenging.

But it's done and now its waiting for me to return tomorrow to find everything again. Fortunately the wind blew most of the smoke to the west and north of the downtown. The shops in the West end closed early for the day.

Soper Creek Yarn is closed Tuesday.

This weekend is Labour day weekend and I am taking a 3 day weekend by closing on Saturday.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Farmer and I returned from a quick trip to see The Girl. We spent the night half way between her home and ours. When we woke in the morning there was a coolness in the air that to me says that the summer is winding down. We may still have weeks of lovely weather, but these cool mornings are a sure sign that September is only a week away.

September will bring some changes to Soper Creek Yarn. If you have come to this page by linking through the website you will have noticed that the website is undergoing some changes and that we have added a newsletter sign up. (not everyone likes to read my blog...)

Hours will change,but only a little. Still closed on Sunday and Monday. Knitt'n Night moves from Tuesday to Wednesday. We may attempt some group lessons, suggestions are always welcome.

Monday, August 22, 2011

We took a quick trip to see The Girl. It's her birthday, she is 24, and she has lived almost 25% of her life away from home.
We made the long drive into her city, took her out for supper and then drove 1/2 way home and stayed in a lovely Ontario Inn. It's been a very quick 24 years, we only got her days ago! (The Summer of 1987 was a very hot summer!)
She's all 'growed' up and we are very proud of her, and no dear we won't get you that pony!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

After finishing the BBT I needed a quick project. A Vintage inspired Hand towel made with Nashua's Creative Focus Linen. One 100 gram ball will make 2.

Just in time for the Wedding on Saturday I finished my Spring Garden Tee by Never not Knitting. It fits, and lovely to wear. I used Louet's Merlin in Candy Apple Red. Just a few slight modifications to the pattern, but basically did exactly as it reads.

Although I started this quick scarf on a Friday, I finished it Sunday while watching 2 movies. I felt a little lazy and needed a mindless project. (Cascade Yarns Eco Duo, 50% Baby Alpaca and 50% Merino, it's soft!) One 100 gram ball made a nice size scarf. I loved how the pattern actually striped perfectly with the triangles (I planned that?... ;) )

Another new yarn from Estelle, Drake! Chunky thick and thin. Cast on 60 stitches on a 9 mm circular needle...knit a few rounds, increase a few stitches. Wait to see what it looks like done.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Yesterday, Monday, my day off? I decided a trip into the city was in order.

After a dentist appointment I headed off. Picked up a few bags then to the warehouse to pick up an order and scan the sale bin for some goodies.

When I arrived I passed one of the owner's office and it was in darkness, 'must be away today I thought?'. Then went by office number 2 and same thing. The whole 'office' area seemed very quiet, very strange. Then I headed into the shipping area and there they all were working like honey bees trying to get orders packed and ready to ship.

Mine was ready and waiting to pick-up. I was the first shop in Canada to receive the shipment of new things from Sirdar!

New Baby books, new yarn, new colours. They filled the car!

Come see,

Pictures when I unpack and find room.

Best part about yesterday, going into Ikea to find one more 'trestle' for The Girl. They have been discontinued and are in short supply. The website told me that the Vaughan store had 1 in stock. It was worth the chance to complete the set for her. There were none on display. The nice lady in the department told me they didn't have any in stock. I headed down into the pick-up area and I thought I would just check. Sure enough there by itself was one lonely box, waiting for me! I think I got the last one!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Last year I made BLT, which was followed by Gwen's VBLT and my ULT. Now we have BBT, Big Brown Thing!

A while ago there was a wedding, this weekend is the reception. When the engagement was announced I tried to come up with a gift for the couple; when I can, I like to make gifts, just me. Big Brown Thing is just BLT (Hemlock Ring) made with Chunky Brown Yarn. Cascade yarns 128 Super wash in Chocolate Brown. I found that anything lace is best made using natural fibers, they just block easier. The Super wash was me just being nice to the couple.

I used 6.5 mm circular needles, I was amazed that a 32 inch needle will hold over 500 stitches. See the little swirl of yarn in the top left corner it's what was left of the 6th skein.

Before Blocking it was quite lumpy. After a 20 minute soak in SOAK it was pinned it to all blocking boards I could find. It measures 54" after blocking. The drape is lovely.

This pattern really just flies, round and round you go for 4 rows and then there is one 'pattern' row, loads of counting. It took about 10 days, a bit at a time, to make the blanket.